The store manager with a sparse beard on his chin picked up an old black iron oil lamp, then took out a fire stick from his pocket and blew on it to light it. Then he stood on the side of the aisle, tilted his head, and motioned for the three of them to follow.
He didn't close the door and left his store empty very comfortably.
This confidence further proves that he is in charge of Lao Cai. Obviously, even if the owner is away, people from other shops around will help to look after it and not let any sneaky people sneak in.
There is an old saying in the Kingdom of the Moon that "a small hermit lives in the wilderness, a large hermit lives in the city". Translated into Laman language, it means that the lower-level hermits will live in the mountains and forests away from the noisy crowd, while the higher-level hermits will live in the mountains and forests away from the noisy crowds. Even though you are blended into the bustling city, you are still at ease.
Although this saying refers more to spiritual openness, it works just as well when applied to topics such as spheres of influence.
It is indeed a reasonable method of publicity to show off one's own force, with bright armor, fine weapons, and majestic elite guards to scare outsiders - to use high-profile armed forces to frighten those with evil intentions and prevent them before they happen. .
But Youdao attracts attention. As a subordinate of Xinjing, even if Qingzhi has no intention of rebellion due to his prosperous business relationship, he will inevitably arouse suspicion if he really uses samurai troops on a large scale.
To hide one's strength with one's tail between one's legs is what a powerful person in a city should do. The cards in your hand will not be fully played, but they will not be fully hidden either.
Because no one would believe that you, the lord of a city, really don't have any military power, so it seems more reasonable to reveal part of it.
There will be brightly-armored warriors stationed near the main palace, but many of the troops loyal to the Lord of Qingzhi City lurking in the dark appear as ordinary people.
The thousands of years of accumulated history of the Moon Country cannot be underestimated. The people here are at least as good at playing tricks as the people in the Empire.
After entering the tunnel, the three of them clearly felt that the temperature had dropped a little. There was no skylight to let in light, and the oil lamp held by the shopkeeper who did not declare his home became their only source of lighting. This is obviously some kind of tunnel escape system. It is about two meters high, allowing two people to walk side by side, and it uses bluestone walls to increase its strength.
In the dry and cold Northland, it is not uncommon to dig tunnels or cellars for storing items. The reason why Qingzhi has to lay bricks here is probably because it is closer to the water and the terrain is relatively low.
The masonry is used to increase strength and prevent the channel from being flooded by groundwater or collapsing due to soaking and softening.
"Tap -" the sound of shoes stepping on the accumulated water was heard one after another. The soaked soles of the feet made people a little annoyed, but they could only endure it for now. The cold water droplets falling from the top of the channel have not yet affected the structure. Perhaps this is why they have not maintained it. Although it is a bit annoying, Henry and others are also wearing cloaks, and even if water drops fall on them, they will only slide down the surface of the wool.
They passed through many places quickly. It may sound a bit arrogant for a newcomer to be led into a place that is supposed to be a secret passage, but the twists and turns of the experienced shop owner proved that this place is connected in all directions. Coupled with the pitch black and low visibility, the candlelight can only illuminate three or four places. It's only a few meters away, and most people would get lost and starve to death if they broke in randomly.
— and that’s not all that stands in the way.
"Be careful not to step on that place, it's a trap." The shopkeeper walked to a certain side, then held up a candle to remind everyone not to touch a stone on the ground.
Mira trembled, and Sakura swallowed. They didn't ask what mechanism it was, because it was obviously not a good person.
The silent forward movement continued for a while. When some moss appeared on the wall illuminated by the candle in the old store manager's hand, Henry frowned, then slowed down and signaled Mira and Sakura to slow down as well.
"Tsk, tsk." The store manager noticed this and made a slightly appreciative smacking sound, but said nothing. He stepped forward and walked over. In front of him was a staircase with an airtight wooden door at the end.
"Dong dong, dong." He knocked on the wooden door with a certain rhythm.
"Who is coming?" Someone from above shouted through the wooden board.
"It's me." The store manager said. After a while, the door above opened with a creak, and light came in, followed by a series of footsteps.
The dazzling sunlight illuminated the front of the passage for an instant, and the old store manager's eyes narrowed to adapt to the bright environment again. Only when Mira and Sakura saw this scene did they realize the reason why Henry stopped them - if the three of them were to stop them at this moment If you still follow the store manager to the bottom of the door panel, you will be instantly blinded by the suddenly brightened environment, and naturally you will completely lose your ability to resist.
It's one thing to slow down a few steps and not be directly hit by the light. With a certain distance, there is also a buffer time for the eyes to adapt to the light. In this way, you will not be overwhelmed by the illumination for a moment and then be surrounded by fully armed soldiers - this is the cautious instinct that combat professionals must have. Even if the other party is not hostile, you must ultimately avoid losing the initiative. .
"Always be aware of the surrounding environment." The sage always taught the Luoan girl every detail, but she was still a little less mature, but she often got too excited and forgot about it during the fight.
Even if Mira does have some actual combat experience, it does not mean that she is a true elite warrior.
Experiencing actual combat and surviving will not cause earth-shaking changes in a person in an instant. Because there are many factors that determine victory or defeat in a battle. Sometimes you can win if you are physically stronger than your opponent or have slightly better luck. The key point is that you must learn to reflect after defeating your opponent. Think about which step you made wrong and you will end up dead. Reflect on those wrong moves, and then learn from your success to become more skilled.
People who don't reflect or don't pay attention to their own problems can't go far on the path of being a swordsman.
Fortunately, our Luoan girl has never been like this.
"Who are these?" The soldiers who came down from above immediately formed a formation to block the road exit. Although they confirmed that the leader was indeed their own family, they did not let down their guard.
Because his family might have been coerced, the samurai who walked into the tunnel immediately took up their positions and confirmed the situation with the old store manager.
"We are not enemies. Maybe we can conspire. It has some relationship with the Lord's guests. The specific details are up to the Lord to decide." The old store manager said this in a slow tone, and the samurai leader looked through the lower edge of his helmet. He glanced at the people here and nodded after a while.
"Disperse." He gave the order, and the warriors holding short guns put away their weapons and stood on both sides.
"Can you understand the language of my country?" He stepped forward and spoke directly to the person he considered to be the leader of the team - our Mr. Sage.
"Understood." Henry nodded.
"Then follow me. Don't listen to what's wrong with you, don't see what's wrong with you. If you do anything inappropriate, don't blame me for being merciless." It seems that this is not the first time that this kind of thing has happened. The team leader explained it skillfully, and then continued He said to the two warriors next to him: "Collect the weapons."
He said this, and Mira was slightly resistant, but the sage calmed her down.
"Kaka -" Several weapons were unloaded. When the sage's sword fell into the hands of the warrior, he felt some unexpected weight. The other party glanced at it, but Henry was wrapped in cloth. But he didn't realize it.
"...Please take off your body armor as well." Just when the Luoan girl thought that everything was over, the samurai leader narrowed his eyes and observed the Brigandy-style plate armor on the sage. Said this sentence.
"..." Henry shrugged, then first loosened his coat, untied the belt around his waist, and then opened the belt buckles one by one.
The plate armor made of dark blue velvet with fancy rivets looks luxurious but is not light in weight. Because of the sage's larger body, this piece of armor weighs more than 10 kilograms.
The warrior leader became curious and waved to his men to pass the plate armor over, then turned it over to take a closer look at the overlapping solid armor plates inside.
"It is shaped like the tortoise shell gold of our country. It is true. What the Lord said is true." He nodded: "The so-called Southern Barbarians, no matter how contemptuous they are, are actually as rich in culture as our country."
"Let's go." The warriors who collected the equipment of several people walked out first, and finally the three Henrys walked out of the passage surrounded by fully armed warriors.
The old store manager did not follow him out, and seemed to have returned to the store alone from the passage.
The Luoan girl glanced at the sage, then at the warrior leader in front of her who was about the same height as her, but hesitated to speak.
"Like Rigal, there are all kinds of people here. On the plus side, the master of Qingzhi does not just reject foreign things." Henry noticed his disciple's doubts and said this He spoke, but in the language of the Moon Country instead of Rigal, in order not to cause unnecessary doubts in the other party.
"Hear no evil, see no evil." The Luoan girl nodded, and then habitually wanted to observe the surroundings, but the leader in front said this as if there were eyes behind her back.
The team of warriors surrounded them. The human wall was supposed to be airtight and block sight, forcing them to move forward. However, the heights of Henry and his party had an overwhelming advantage against these warriors. , so it can only be emphasized verbally.
But what the samurai leader said was somewhat formal and Mila didn't quite understand it, so Sakura behind him had to use plain language to the Luoan girl when he reminded her for the third time: "He is telling you to stop looking around and don't mess around." listen."
"Ah." The Luoan girl who understood then nodded sheepishly, and the group continued to walk forward. After passing a wall with a circular door opening, the captain suddenly let out a "tsk", and then Said softly: "Please speed up——"
But as soon as he finished speaking, a voice sounded from the right side.
"Oh, are there new guests coming to see Father?"
The voice sounded very young, and it also had an arrogance that could be heard just from the tone. The group of people stopped, and Mira, Sakura and Henry all turned their heads.
A young man about 1.7 meters tall, with long blue hair that represents underage, luxuriously dressed and holding a wooden sword in his hand, stood on the other side of the yard, with a man dressed as a samurai next to him. He was sitting on the dirt floor holding his bruised arm, not daring to say a word.
"Oh, the Southern Barbarians are all so tall regardless of gender -" He walked over and said this, taking off the hats on Mira and Ying's heads, but he didn't look closely, so he took off the hats on their heads. There are few tall courtesans among the people, and they are regarded as foreigners.
"Young Master." The young man's already easy-to-guess identity was immediately verified through the words of the samurai leader - he bowed and then said: "This is the master's guest, please, young master -"
"I can't hear what you're saying. I can't hear you clearly." The long-haired boy picked his ears and walked over impatiently: "Get out of the way." Then he pushed aside the warrior in front of him arrogantly. .
"Hey." He walked up to the sage and looked him up and down.
"You guy, can you understand Chinese language?"
"Hey, I'm asking you something." The arrogant young man asked one after another, and the sage glanced at the troubled look of the warrior leader next to him and nodded.
"Okay, this is not bad. Here." Qingzhi's young master threw the wooden sword in his hand to the sage.
Henry didn't reach out to pick it up and let it fall to the ground.
"The last guy who was this tall had all the airs but no ability at all."
"My father said not to underestimate Nanman's sword skills, but I don't think it's anything special." He turned around and picked up another wooden sword.
"See if you can prove me wrong?"
"Young Master, please—" "Shut up."
"How is it?" He made a provocative expression and said to the sage.
"What should I do?" And Mira looked at her teacher - the tall empty frame the other party mentioned was most likely Galeva. Perhaps defeating such a big man gave him inflated confidence, but Luo Miss An was even more suspicious that this person was born like this.
Henry is naturally not on the same level as a stupid young man like Galeva, but that’s where the problem lies——
This is the son of the city lord. They will discuss with the city lord next. Their teammates should be detained somewhere here, and this is the opponent's territory.
So the question is not whether the fight can be won, but whether it should be fought.
"Tsk, hey Sakamoto, if that guy doesn't fight me, kill those two women." The young man gave the order to the samurai captain.
"This -" the captain was a little embarrassed, but then he responded respectfully: "Yes, young master."
"..." Mira frowned, and Sakura sighed.
And Henry silently bent down and picked up the wooden knife.
.. m.
